Riordan Calls Secession Bid ‘Terrible Idea’

Speaking to a gathering of San Fernando Valley business leaders Friday, Mayor Richard Riordan blasted the area’s secession movement as a “terrible idea” that would hurt the San Fernando Valley’s economic comeback.

Riordan acknowledged in an interview that “the Valley feels they have not had a voice in the [city] government for many years,” fueling the secession movement.

But he warned if the Valley broke from Los Angeles, “the Valley would have to recreate a lot of [costly] infrastructure” and public services, from police to street repairs to water supplies.

During his remarks to the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., Riordan said the Valley’s economy had fully recovered from the 1994 Northridge earthquake and is stronger than ever, citing the retail complex to be built at the former General Motors auto plant in Van Nuys as an example.

In other developments at the VICA conference, developer Jerry Katell, whose firm owns the controversial Warner Ridge site immediately west of Pierce College, said he is about to sell five acres of the property to a residential developer that plans to build a 125-unit townhouse rental complex there next year.

His firm, Katell Properties, still plans to develop a series of five-story offices on the remaining 16 acres. Katell’s firm owns 1 million square feet of office space throughout the Valley, and the space is 100% filled, he said.

The Valley’s commercial real estate market “is getting very tight and the time to build is very close,” he said.

Katell is in negotiations with a half-dozen prospective Warner Ridge tenants, including a health club.

He said as nearby Warner Center rents out more vacant space, “that will drive the demand for our [Warner Ridge] site” and clients will be attracted to the more contemporary “low-rise” offices he plans to build, rather than the high-rises that dominate Warner Center.

All told, Warner Ridge would cost $200 million if built out as planned, including the residential portion.

Katell is also the primary landlord of a large office complex in Chatsworth that is being partly vacated by Great Western Bank now that the savings and loan has been bought by Washington Mutual.

Katell has a guaranteed rental contract on the buildings, and said Washington Mutual is about to sublease most of the 10-story former Great Western headquarters office there to health maintenance organization Foundation Health.

He also said Washington Mutual has leased another building in Chatsworth to EDS, the large computer services firm.